On the Scientific Maturity of Digital Forensics Research

Abstract

This paper applies a scientific maturity grade schema from the software engineering domain to research in the field of digital forensics. On the basis of this maturity schema and its grades, the paper classifies the current maturity of digital forensics research. The findings show that much more research conducted at higher levels of "scientificness" is necessary before the new field of digital forensics can be considered to be scientifically mature.

Establishing Findings in Digital Forensic Examinations: A Case Study Method

“…A forensic examiner must have scientific knowledge and experience in the forensic field in order to practice in the field. An understanding of the body of knowledge in the field is a necessary requirement for all forensic science disciplines [9,13,15,17]. An examiner must have expert knowledge in the field in which the examination is intended to be carried out.…”

Notions of Hypothesis in Digital Forensics

“…This chapter is based on the little-disputed premise that the young discipline of digital forensics is still -to use a phrase by Thomas Kuhn [16] -in a "proto-scientific" stage, although its scientification is on the way [11]. When a discipline grows from a proto-scientific stage to a "paradigmatic" stage [14], two phenomena can be typically observed: (i) a growing formalization (or mathematization) in the expression of the theories in the discipline; and (ii) a growing methodological awareness of what is required or forbidden or allowed for the methods in the discipline in order to qualify as "scientific."…”